Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Friday, September 12, 2008

A family whose dog got loose and was shot to death by a Denver police officer is planning to go around its neighborhood today to raise awareness about what can happen if pets get loose — and raise cash for a possible lawsuit against the city.

On Monday, Rocky, a 3-year-old male yellow labrador retriever, was killed by an officer, after he was reported as a vicious dog, even though he had not hurt anyone.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, Denver police and animal control were notified about a vicious dog in the area near West 40th Avenue and Navajo Street.

"When our officer arrived on scene, he was flagged down by a citizen who related to him there was a vicious dog in the area and gave a description and direction in which the dog ran off in," said Sharon Hahn, spokeswoman for Denver police.

"When the officer found the dog and went to approach the dog, he turned on the officer, and the officer felt his life was threatened, so he shot the dog," said Hahn.